Why California’s Drinking Water Tax Could Be the Last Straw for Californians

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California governor Jerry Brown wants to impose the state’s first-ever tax on drinking water, tacked onto monthly bills, and accompanied by “fees” on fertilizer and dairy farmers. For embattled Californians, this new tax will come as no surprise.

Forty years ago in 1978, property taxes were on the rise and the People’s Initiative to Limit Property Taxation, Proposition 13, was on the ballot. The measure rolled back property values to the 1976 assessed level, limited increases to no more than 2 percent per year if the property was not sold, and reassessed sold property at one percent of the sale price. California governor Jerry Brown opposed Proposition 13 as a “fraud” and a “rip-off” but on June 6, 1978, a full 65 percent ofCalifornia voters passed the measure.

Brown then proclaimed himself a “born-again tax cutter,” but examples of when he actually reduced taxes are rather hard to find. In 1992, in the last of this three failed presidential runs, Brown advanced a flat tax of 13 percent, with a similar value-added levy on business and deductions only for mortgage interest, rent, and charitable contributions. The plan went nowhere and Brown struck out as a presidential candidate.